Is a Librarian Gender Salary Gap Ahead?

A new scorecard report has been released by the National Center for Women & Information Technology (NCWIT) reporting on the staus of women in IT. The scorecard indicates that women are falling further behind in information technology and computer science.

The findings showed that gare not pursuing careers or majors in information sciences. The research suggests that "women are more interested in using computing as a tool for accomplishing a goal than they are in the workings of the machine." the report states. Some stats:

• Girls comprise fewer than 15 percent of all AP computer science exam-takers – the lowest representation of any AP discipline.



• Between 1983 and 2006, the share of computer science bachelor’sdegrees awarded to women dropped from 36 to 21 percent.



• Women hold more than half of professional positions overall, but fewer than 22 percent of software engineering positions.
  

An article entitled The New Library Professional by Stanley Wilder appeared back in the Feb 20, 2007 online issue of Chronicle of Higher Education discusses the emerging generation gap and non-traditional background among library professionals. His observations are based on the Association of Research Libraries 2005 Salary Survey data.

I found the following observation in Wilder's piece interesting in light of the scorecard and past discussions about the library gender gap:

"The computer types in academic libraries are disproportionately young. And perhaps not surprisingly, young computer experts enjoy a substantial advantage in salary (47 percent of them earn $50,000 and up) when compared to other young professionals in non-supervisory library jobs (only 18 percent earn $50,000 or more).

"Finally, most information-technology professionals in our libraries are male (71 percent), which is not the case in other types of library positions (28 percent male)."

Hmmm. I wonder. What will future library salary surveys show when more men are entering the profession in IT positions that generally have higher salaries? Sphere: Related Content